MOUNT GREENWOOD — Saint Xavier University graduate student Connie Taylor once relied on the March of Dimes. Eight years later, she's helping to organize a March for Babies fundraiser at her school.
Saint Xavier's first March for Babies 5K will be held from 8:30 a.m.-noon May 3 at the university's main campus at 3700 W. 103rd St. in Mount Greenwood.
Taylor, a resident of south suburban Markham, became well aware of the March of Dimes when her daughter, MySean Doby, was born three months premature at Advocate South Suburban Hospital in Hazel Crest.
MySean arrived into the world weighing 2.8 pounds and measuring 15 inches long. Her grandmother compared her little arms and legs to uncooked hot dogs. MySean's head looked like a tiny orange, she said.
MySean spent 1½ months in intensive care at the University of Illinois Hospital. Her treatment was primarily focused on gaining weight. For the first several weeks she was fed through a tube and slowly introduced to breast feeding.
The preemie also needed a blood transfusion and underwent a bilirubin treatment while in the hospital. The March of Dimes was there along the way and helping with the upcoming walk is a way to show appreciation, Taylor said.
“I would just like to help bring more awareness to the resources available to mothers and their families,” Taylor said. “For many, it may be a very dark moment, but they are not alone and they will come out triumphantly.”
MySean, 8, successfully emerged from those long days in the hospital. She's now actively involved in Girl Scouts, cheerleading and soccer.
Meanwhile, Taylor is pursuing a master's degree in business administration at Saint Xavier's Graham School of Management. She is majoring in human resource management and expects to graduate in August 2016.
In addition to her studies, Taylor has also been named the South Suburban Ambassador Mom for the March for Babies fundraiser at Saint Xavier.
Marge Cashman, outreach community manager for the Southwest Side university, is also helping to coordinate the walk. She anticipates 1,000 people will participate in the March for Babies 5K.
The South Suburban March for Babies was previously held at in the southwest suburbs in Midlothian Meadows. The walk has continued to add participants and was moved to Saint Xavier this year to take advantage of improved parking and bathroom facilities, according to the event's website.
The March for Babies is the signature fundraiser for the March of Dimes. Beverly Bank & Trust, Advocate Children’s Hospital of Oak Lawn and 1st Response EMS Inc. Ambulance Transportation Service have all signed on as sponsors for the walk in Mount Greenwood.
More than 7 million people in more than 692 communities participate in March for Babies annually. In Illinois, there are 20 walks with nearly 20,000 participants each year, according to the charity.
Proceeds from the walk aim to prevent premature birth and birth defects. Parents and children have benefited from March of Dimes research, education, vaccines and breakthroughs since 1938.
The March of Dimes was founded to find a cure for polio and later expanded its interests to include the prevention of birth defects and infant mortality. More than half a million babies are born prematurely in the United States each year — one in nine babies born too soon.
About 60 percent of the money raised through local walks remains in the community through education and community service programs. The remaining money is used for national research grants.
Anyone interested in volunteering or participating in the March for Babies 5K at Saint Xavier is asked to contact Marge Cashman at 708-802-6210 or cashman@sxu.edu.
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